


The Mom Friend

by JillyWinchester



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: (mentioned) - Freeform, ADD/ADHD Racetrack Higgins, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Jack Kelly, Bisexual Jack Kelly, Car Accidents, Dad Friend Jack Kelly, Davey drives a mini van, Davey is the mom friend but Medda is the grandma, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Foster Care, Gen, Good Dad Jack, Group Homes, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Les Jacobs is the cutest thing you have ever seen, M/M, Medda Larkin is a saint, Mom Friend David Jacobs, Momma Medda, Poverty, Sad Jack Kelly, Soft Spot Conlon, Theatre, Theatre games, they all work at the school store
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25381618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillyWinchester/pseuds/JillyWinchester
Summary: Jack takes good care of his kids, the best he can.  But recently he's been feeling the strain of the responsibility.  It's hard to take care of twenty-something high school kids who are all either poor, abused, or neglected.  But then David Jacobs comes into his lifeJavid centric Mom friend modern AU! You'll really like this one guys
Relationships: Albert DaSilva & Elmer (Newsies), Crutchie & David Jacobs, Crutchie & Jack Kelly, Crutchie & Les Jacobs, Crutchie & Racetrack Higgins, Crutchie & Smalls (Newsies), Crutchie (Newsies) & Les Jacobs, David Jacobs & Jack Kelly, David Jacobs & Les Jacobs, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Jack Kelly & Medda Larkin, Jack Kelly & Romeo (Newsies), Les Jacobs & Jack Kelly, Racetrack Higgins & David Jacobs, Racetrack Higgins & Jack Kelly, Racetrack Higgins & Romeo (Newsies), Spot Conlon & Jack Kelly, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins, everyone is friends - Relationship
Comments: 7
Kudos: 80





	1. One

Jack takes good care of his boys. He keeps ‘em safe, happy, and full. He makes sure each one of ‘em has a place to stay the night, and a shoulder to cry on. When Racer comes back from his shitty foster family with yet another shiner, Jack patches him up and reassures him that he doesn’t deserve it. When Crutchie feels useless, Jack makes sure to chase those feelings away. When Albert comes to school Monday looking paler and thinner, Jack makes sure to give him his share of breakfast. He loves taking care of his boys, but sometimes, it’s exhausting. Sometimes, Jack just wants a little help- or maybe someone to notice when  _ he _ flinches, or when  _ he _ didn’t get enough food. Crutchie sees, sometimes, but each time Jack feels a little more guilty. Crutchie shouldn’t have to worry about him. He was too young, too sweet. 

All Jack’s boys work at the school store,  _ The World,  _ which is officially only a cashier job, but they do all sorts of work. They all get free breakfast and stay after school to hang out in the theater or the gym as a part of the school’s welfare plan. Jack tries to keep them with him as long as possible, but they all have to go back to their group homes and foster parents when the weekend comes. It turns Jack’s stomach to see new bruises on his boys come Monday morning. 

Sometimes, he calls Spot Conlon- cause Spot knows. Hell, Spot has twice as many boys as Jack does. Spot goes to another, bigger school in Brooklyn, and he understands the helplessness of watching his kids walk away from safety and into the lion’s den. So talking to Spot helped, but still, it was exhausting. Until David Jacobs moved to town.

David had shown up just after winter break (the worst time of the year, when Jack could only meet with some of his boys, talk with a few, and the others went radio silent and came back with fresh bruises). Jack’s art teacher introduced him as a transfer student, and David had sat in a desk near the front. At first, Jack had thought he’d had David pegged. He was a rich kid, or at least he wasn’t like Jack’s boys. His clothes, books, and phone were all relatively new, and he was in all the honors classes. David walked with purpose, and all his replies were short and polite. There was nothing David had in common with Jack’s boys, except-well, David was tense. Real tense. But he didn’t flinch at the banging of lockers or screams in rowdy hallways, so Jack dismissed it as just new school jitters. 

Until David showed up at  _ The World. _

“Hey.” he’d said. “I’m Davey Jacobs. I’m your new coworker.”

Jack had been surprised, to say the least. No one was sure if it was about the reputation, pay, or just the job itself, but only troubled kids wanted to work at  _ The World _ . It was a rule. Davey didn’t match that description at all. Until Jack started working with him. 

Sure, the kid’s clothes were nice, and he spoke like he was on the Ivy-League track, but he had this nervous energy about him that reminded Jack of when he first met Elmer, back when the kid was so nervous he never asked for nothing from no one. So Jack knew Davey was one of his boys.

“So, Davey,” he’d said as their shift was coming to an end. “I know our shift’s almost over, but I thought maybe you’d wanna hang with us for a while. The gym’s always open, and the drama teacher, Miss Medda, always stays after rehearsal and likes to order us pizza sometimes.” Jack knew a casual ask was best. Many people didn’t like being pegged as a foster kid only a few hours after meeting someone. Especially people as good at hiding it as Davey was. But the promise of food and company should be good enough to get Davey to stay for a while, and then Jack can learn a little more about his home life, and how to make sure he stays safe and fed and-

Davey interrupted his thoughts. “Sorry, I can’t. Ma’s already got dinner going,” he raised his phone to indicate his mom had texted him. “maybe tomorrow?”

“You’re Ma?”  _ So not a foster kid. Did his Ma hit him? No, he was too calm about it. What else could be wrong? _ _ Maybe his Pa hit him and his Ma?  _ But Jack didn’t see any bruises, and Jack was real good at sniffin’ out bruises. So what else could be wrong? “Oh, yeah. ‘Course. See ya tomorrow.”

Davey looked a little guilty at declining the offer, so Jack continued. “Go on, it’s alright. We’ll see you tomorrow. You can help me finish that sign.” Jack pointed to the banner they’d been working on most of the shift. It had a half-finished tiger (the school mascot) on it with ‘Aim for Victory!’ painted in black and orange letters on the top.

Davey chuckled. “You did most of the work. You’re an awesome painter.”

Jack felt his face go pink and waved off the compliment. “It’s just a stupid cat. Nothin’ special.”

“No, it looks awesome. You’ve got real talent. See you tomorrow!” said Davey as he left.

Jack felt his face get warmer. 


	2. Two

Davey’s life  _ sucked _ . The past few weeks had been a rollercoaster of emotions. One that he was still processing if he was honest with himself. He’d got his license, and his mom got a new car, so he got the minivan (which sucks, but hey, at least it’s got four wheels). But then, they had to move. The new house was a lot smaller than their old one, but it was closer to Dad’s job. He had to change schools, and all his old friends promised to keep in touch, but Davey could feel them slipping away. Then, Dad got run over and laid off. Everything happened so fast. They weren’t going to stay afloat with all the medical bills coming in. Ma tried to get some welfare to help them out until they could get back on their feet, but it wasn’t looking great. Davey had to get a job. 

He opted for the school store and emailed his new principal about it. He was hired, but he had to start straight after his first day of school. So his first day of school was also his first day of work, which meant he had no time to figure out how this new school worked before starting the store. And then the first day sucked. He hadn’t met anyone friendly in his classes, he had to sit alone at lunch, and was introduced as ‘our new student, David Jacobs!’ about a million times, and frankly, Davey just wanted to go home, but he had to work for three more hours at  _ The World _ .

So Davey’s life sucked, but he straightened himself up, put on a smile, and extended his hand to the guy that looked most like he was in charge. “Hey. I’m Davey Jacobs. I’m your new coworker.”

The guy sure looked surprised. Great. Principal Weisel didn’t tell them he was coming. Wait, did he even get the job? No, he got it. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to start today? God, that would be embarrassing. What would that say about him? ‘Hey, I’m Davey Jacobs, and I can’t even read an email, so that’s how good an employee I’ll be.’

But the guy in charge wiped the surprise off his face pretty quick and took Davey’s hand, shaking it firmly. “I’m Jack.” then he gestured to the boys behind him. “This is Crutchie, Racer, Albert, Romeo, and Elmer.” Davey waved politely to the boys, who all gave him various greetings. 

Jack gestured behind the counter, and Davey followed him into the store.

It was a little thing,  _ The World _ . A tiny 10x10 room, with its walls lined with school merchandise and bins filled with school supplies, the newest edition of the school paper, and candy. A small sign hung just over the counter, proclaiming all the prices. Davey glanced under the counter and found a little bean bag chair nestled under it. There were also two office chairs, a lawn chair, one of the plastic chairs from the cafeteria, and a folding chair cushion leaning in the corner. The boys certainly had made a home of the store. Suddenly Davey felt like he was intruding. 

“So,” he said, trying to break the ice. “What do you guys do here? It doesn’t look like it gets very busy.”

Some of the guys chuckle. Crutchie smiles at him and sits in one of the office chairs after leaning his forearm crutches against the wall. “We don’t exactly get the best business after school hours. Sometimes some of the sportspeople come in to get snacks, or we get confused with the concession stand when there’s a game on, but mostly it’s quiet. We make ourselves busy around the school, doing spare jobs for the nice teachers.”

Davey nods. “Cool.”

He looks around the room, lost without a job to do. 

Jack pokes his head over the counter from the hallway.  _ When did he leave?  _ “Hey, Davey!” he calls. “You good at art?”

Davey shrugs. “I’m decent.” The truth was, Davey wasn’t all that decent. He could use a ruler and color in the lines, but that was about it. But he really needed something to occupy his hands right now. 

“Come on out here then! Coach Hartel asked me to make a poster for the pep rally next week. I’ve already outlined most of it, we just gotta paint.”

They spent most of the shift talking and painting. Crutchie and Elmer went off to help organize the art room, and Albert, Elmer, and Romeo went off to help one of the teachers clean out their filing cabinets. So Jack and Davey were alone most of the time. Jack did most of the talking at first, but Davey really got out of his shell after about an hour. 

Davey had just finished talking about Les’s newest project, and how good it was, especially since he was only in third grade when Jack said “So Davey, I know our shift’s almost over, but I thought maybe you’d wanna hang with us for a while. The gym’s always open, and the drama teacher, Miss Medda always stays after rehearsal and likes to order us pizza sometimes,”

Davey’s heart fluttered. Jack was inviting him to hang out? That would be so cool! They could talk and play in the gym, and maybe this Medda  _ would  _ order pizza and-oh. But Ma has dinner on. She’d told him to be home by 6:30. Davey sighed. “Sorry, I can’t. Ma’s already got dinner going, Maybe tomorrow?”

Jack’s face fell. “You’re Ma? Oh, yeah. ‘Course. See ya tomorrow.” Great, now he’d done it. He’d disappointed his first friend at this new school. Maybe he could ask his Ma if he could stay after? She knew he was worried about making friends, maybe she would let him stay just this one time.

But then, Jack continued. “Go on, it’s alright. We’ll see you tomorrow. You can help me finish that sign.” 

Davey chuckled. Jack was the only one who really worked on the sign. All Davey did was fill in the lines. “You did most of the work. You’re an awesome painter.”

Jack waved off the compliment. “It’s just a stupid cat. Nothin’ special.”

But it really was something special. It was the most detailed tiger Davey had ever seen. “No, it looks awesome. You’ve got real talent.” Davey put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, then got up and waved goodbye. “See you tomorrow!” 


	3. Three

Davey couldn’t wait to get through the day so he could hang out at _The World_. He’d asked his mom, and she’d said that he could hang out after his shift as long as he texted. Davey hoped the offer still stood. His second day of school wasn’t faring any better than his first. 

Lunch should be okay, though. He’d busy himself with Netflix or assignments to keep his mind off the empty table.

“DAVEY!” 

Davey jerked around, looking for whoever called him. He found Jack, waving cheekily with his feet up at a table. Crutchie, Race, Albert, and Elmer were sitting there too. Jack waved at him and jerked his head towards the table. 

Davey gratefully pulled up a chair. “Hey, guys,”

“Hey,” Jack took his feet off the table and slapped him on the back. “Didn’t think we’d let you leave us so quick, did ya, Dave?”

Davey smiled and pulled out a sandwich. “I wasn’t sure which lunch you guys were in.”

“Well, now you know,” said Race, twirling an unlit cigar in his fingers.

Lunch was the most fun Davey had had in years. The guys were so lively and genuine. Davey felt right at home. Jack even walked him to his next class. 

Sunshine seemed to follow him everywhere after that. He wasn’t introduced anymore, no one tried to be fake-friendly with him, and he knew almost every answer the teachers asked. He slipped into the system with ease, and everything was perfect.

Except for art. As Davey walked the halls towards the classroom, his heart became heavier and heavier. He could have sworn it had landed in his toes. Yesterday, Davey had gotten away with art. They’d been finishing a project, so Davey was exempt, and didn’t have to do anything. Not to mention he was the new kid, so people were obliged to talk to him (though it was fake). Today, no one would ask him any questions, and Davey would have to do a project. 

Davey wasn’t good at art.

Like, hilariously horrible at it. He wasn’t kidding when he said Jack did most of the work on that poster. All Davey did was paint in the letters. Art class was going to suck. 

At least he knew where most of the stuff was now. Yesterday, Jack had shown him around the art room when they went to get paints. Davey wished bitterly that Jack was in his art class. He’d mentioned at lunch he had second-period clay works. But Davey had seventh-period Drawing. It was the only art credit available, with all his AP classes. 

Davey sat nervously at a table at the front. The few kids already there gave him a few looks. As if he would disappear after yesterday. Davey sunk a little in his seat and gripped his bag.

But then he felt someone warm squeezing his shoulder. 

“Hey, Dave, wanna come sit with us?”

“Jack?” Davey gripped his bag a little tighter. “What are you doing here? I thought you had clay?”

“I’ve got both. Gonna be an artist, so-” he shrugged, then clapped Davey on the back. “Come on, Elm wants to tell you about some new coffee shop he found”

As Davey let Jack’s hand settle on his back and lead him where Elmer was excitedly drawing a coffee cup, the sunshine feeling crept back up from his toes and into his heart.

Art turned out to not be so bad. Jack helped him out with his lines, and gave him excellent advice, and told him how good his art was (even though it wasn’t that great, but it felt like it was, it felt like Jack was proud of him).

They talked almost the whole time, and when they weren’t talking, Jack was guiding Davey’s hand over the paper so his lines were just right. Which didn’t mean anything of course, he was just being a good friend, but it sure did feel nice. And right after art, they went straight to _The World_.

It was busier than last night was. Apparently, there was a game going on, and _The World_ was cheaper than the concession stand. Jack, Race, and Elmer went to help one of the secretaries re-organize a filing cabinet. So Davey stayed busy at the register while Crutchie kept inventory, and Albert gave the customers their food. There was a steady, relaxing beat to the whole process, and Davey felt like he’d been doing it for his entire life.

“I think we found a new cashier, Crutchie,” said Albert when the half-time rush came to a close. He’d hopped onto the counter and was chewing on a granola bar Davey had leftover from lunch.

Crutchie smiled and nodded. “Even faster than Race,”

“Don’t let him hear that. Though Davey may be faster just cause he don’t have sticky fingers,”

“Race has sticky fingers?” Davey asked. 

Crutchie laughed and sat in one of the office chairs. “Yeah. He’s a lot better now, though. Used to get us in a lot of trouble, but Jack helped him kick the habit.”

“Jack helped who?” asked Jack, rounding the corner.

“Race and his sticky fingers. You guys done with the cabinet?”

“Nah. But three seemed like a crowd, so I thought Davey might wanna help me finish that banner?

Davey looked to the other boys to make sure they were fine being down a man. 

“Go on,” said Crutchie. “We’ll be good.”

So Davey followed Jack to the art room where he’d already laid out the half-finished banner. They’d been working for about fifteen minutes, just talking about random things, before Davey asked what he actually wanted to.

“So, what’s with Race and the cigar?”

Jack sighed, clenched his jaw, and put down his brush. 

“It’s fine if it’s private, obviously, you don’t have to-”

“No, no, it’s fine, just some people don’t react too kindly,” Jack said. He picked up his brush again and waited a minute before saying anything more.

“Race used to smoke. A lot. Six-packs a day. Couldn’t go an hour at work without a smoke break. Eventually, we got him to quit for a while. But he needs something to hold and fiddle with. I got him that cigar. He promises not to smoke it, but he just really needs to have it to mess with. And I can tell he doesn’t smoke anymore, cause the cigar stays the same.”

“Alright,” said Davey.

Jack nodded and continued the painting.

Davey left the cigar alone for the next few days. To be honest, he didn’t like it. Cigars weren’t meant to fiddle with. They were meant for smoking, and Davey was a little worried for his friend. Whether or not he was smoking, he was still in contact with the tobacco. And what if someone caught him with it? Would he get in trouble?

So Davey left it alone, but kept it in the back of his mind. What else could Race mess with?

First, Davey dug around in his pantry for a pack of suckers from Halloween. He brought some to school and handed them out to the guys. Race seemed happy about them. He even put his cigar in his bag for a little while. He was doing tricks and rolling the suckers on his tongue and rolling them in his fingers. But he went through them far too fast for Davey to keep supplying them.

Davey waited a few days, then brought gum to school. Which lasted a lot longer than the suckers, but he still went through it too fast to be a viable option. Davey was beginning to think that Jack was right. He’d been friends with Race way longer than Davey had, why shouldn’t he be? Davey was just intruding. But then Race had lost his cigar.

Well, more like ‘a strict new sub that actually cared about discipline’ came into Chemistry, and Race had to hide his cigar in Davey’s bag. Which Davey didn’t mind. By then he knew teachers like Mr. Clifton seemed to target Race and leave Davey alone. 

The period itself was horrible. Mr. Clifton didn’t understand the concept of an inside voice, and he yelled at Race and other kids for imperceivable faults. Davey hated days like this, when he couldn’t help his friends. But it also presented a unique opportunity. This was the first time Davey had been able to see Race when he didn’t have the option of suckers, gum, or the cigar. Race was nervous, and without anything to fiddle with. Which was horrible, and Davey longed to hand him one of the sticks of watermelon gum he kept on his person for situations like this.

“ANTONIO! What are you doing?!” Mr. Clifton yelled. 

Race quickly pulled his fingers and jacket string out of his mouth. “Nothing, sir.”

“You weren’t paying attention to the video. One more offense, and I’ll mark you for Miss Neilson.”

“Yes, sir.”

Davey watched as Race stared off into the distance, his hands glued to his lap. His stomach burned with contempt for Mr. Clifton. Race _had_ been paying attention to the video, Mr. Clifton just needed to be a drill sergeant. Now Race wasn’t paying attention at all, and probably freaking out. 

As soon as they left class, Davey put his arm around Race’s shoulders and handed him a stick of gum and his cigar. Race took it gratefully with a quick glance back to the classroom.

“That guy’s an asshole,” said Davey. “Don’t pay him any attention.”

Race nodded, sighed, and popped the gum in his mouth, playing with his cigar. “I know. Thanks, Mouth.”

Davey glowed at the nickname. Jack had started it a few days ago. Davey expected that if any of his old friends had called him that, it would have been insulting. But it carried the same warmth that Crutchie and Race’s names did. Davey smiled all the way to Spanish, where they met up with Albert.

Over the next few weeks, Davey thought more and more about the jacket strings. They weren’t heavy in Race’s hands, and he couldn’t do tricks with them, but they seemed to calm him down. Dave started to research how to make his friend feel better, and eventually stumbled upon something called ‘stimming jewelry’ meant to be chewed like Race would do with his jacket strings. But Davey was more than a little wary. The jewelry was made for people with ADHD. What if Race was offended he assumed that about him? What he didn’t actually need it and didn’t want to be Davey’s friend anymore? What if the others shunned him because he offended Race?

But Davey found one shaped like a racehorse, with a jockey and everything. He was almost sure that Race would like it, if only it didn’t carry those connotations. Davey wasn’t sure how Race would react to that. 

But as Davey’s research continued, it became apparent that Race had some form of ADHD. Davey ordered the necklace and decided he just wouldn’t mention the fact that it was chewy. He was sure Race would figure it out.

That night at _The World_ , Davey asked everyone what their birthdays were. As if by fate, Race’s was the closest. 

On Race’s birthday, they had a little party in the theater after their shift. Davey gave Race the necklace and a chocolate bar. Race still keeps the cigar on his person, but rarely in his mouth anymore. Mostly, it’s the bright red racehorse.


	4. Four

Jack is not in love with Davey. Nope. No way. He’s just very appreciative of the boy’s efforts. He was just so  _ good.  _ He took care of everyone. He bought Race that chewy necklace (Race’s favorite color, and shaped like a racehorse). Jack had even noticed Davey carried gum with him wherever he went, just for Race. And he always brought an extra water bottle for Crutchie when he forgot his understanding that walking to the fountain was a pain. Davey even fed them. Recently he’d been packing extra snacks in his lunch and casually handing it to them. He made sure that, no matter what, Albert always had an after school snack. And Davey was poor too! But he had a home, and he spared what he could. Davey helped with homework and was always there. He was even good with Elmer. 

Jack always tried to cheer Elmer up when he was down, getting him a cookie from the vending machine or playing one-on-one, but sometimes that didn’t work. Davey knew how to talk with Elmer, and just sat with him, listening, and let him be sad. And then Elmer was okay.

Davey even took care of the kid’s he didn’t really know. The kids who hung out with Medda, but weren’t in the same shift or lunch. Jack’s kids. 

Davey stole his Ma’s hairdryer to adjust Spec’s glasses when he complained of them being too tight and giving him a headache. He gave Romeo relationship advice, and listened to (and laughed at!) every single one of Henry’s bad jokes. He never let JoJo get away with nothing, and he braided Small’s hair just the way they liked it. 

Jack was beyond grateful.

This Saturday, Jack finds himself perched in a tree in Central Park. He’s sketching and waiting for Spot Conlon.

Spot lived in Brooklyn and was in a similar situation. He took care of all the foster kids in his school, but Spot had way more to look after. Sometimes they met to give each other advice on being leaders. Spot specialized in strategy, making sure everyone followed orders, stayed out of trouble, and stayed safe. Jack specialized in emotion. Ways to charm your way out of a situation, ways to calm down your kids, and ways to make sure they felt safe to come to him.

It was a good system. 

Spot knew that recently, Jack had been feeling the strain of taking care of all his kids. While Spot had a clear chain of command, Jack tended to take all the responsibility for himself. Spot suggested he made Race his second, and he’d started to give the boy more responsibility, but it was in no way fully integrated yet.

“You’re lookin’ good.” Spot said, approaching the tree. Jack jumped down, smiling.

“You’re not so bad yourself, champ” he teased.

“Shut up. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t”

“You look less tired. Like you actually slept a wink last night. Race doing well as second?”

Jack shrugged as they headed over to a bench. “I’ve been slowly giving Race more responsibilities, letting him make more decisions, but he isn’t really second yet.”

Spot looked displeased but not surprised. “So, what is it? Spider doing better?”

Jack’s foster dad, Snyder the Spider, had beaten Jack pretty good last time Spot and Jack met. But he’d gotten a new girlfriend, and seemed to have calmed down for now. Jack tried not to wonder if she was his new punching bag.

“Yeah. But that’s not it. There’s this new kid, he’s really been helping out, he understands. Davey. Joined the World a few weeks ago, and he’s been fitting in great. He’s got folks, even a little brother. Started working there ’cause his Dad got in an accident and was laid off. Welfare’s helping, but they’re still trying to stay afloat with medical bills. Real sad, but it’s also been amazing. He keeps snacks for Albert, an extra water bottle for Crutchie, he braids Smalls’ hair, gives Romeo advice that he actually  _ listens to _ , he helps with homework, and he knows exactly how to talk to Elmer. He even bought Race a chewy racehorse necklace for his birthday.”

Spot nodded along as Jack continued to gush about Davey. Davey was so smart, so considerate, so funny, so quick, so good with the register. He sounded like a superhero, or an angel.

“Sounds like a good guy,” Spot said when he’d finally had enough of Jack’s rambling.

“He is.”

“Do you love him?”

Jack turned bright pink. “What? I-I don’t, what do-”

“It’s alright. Just- ask yourself if you do. He sounds like a keeper.”


	5. Five

The clock strikes six, and Jack locks up the World. Davey pulls out his phone, ready to text Ma that he’ll only stay for a half an hour extra and would be home soon, when it started ringing.

“Ma?”

“Davey? Hey, baby,” Ma’s voice was shaking. She sounded like she was holding back tears. “I need you to pick Les up from aftercare, okay?”

Davey furrowed his brows. Les sometimes stayed after school in their aftercare program so Ma could work overtime, but she almost always picked him up by five.

“Okay Ma. What’s wrong?”

Davey heard her take in a shaky breath. “Your Dad just has to have another surgery baby, and I can’t bear to make your brother wait in the hospital anymore. Maybe you could take him to hang out with your friends? You said they were really good kids. Keep him distracted, and get him to bed before 10:30.”

“Okay,” said Davey, trying to remain calm for his Ma. “Ma, what’s the surgery?”

Davey heard a shaky breath, and the phone was covered briefly. Davey’s gut twisted painfully. This was bad. 

“It’s nothing, baby,” said Ma, voice calmer. “They have to fix up his knee, nothing too serious.”

It was a lie. But Davey let it slide.

“Okay, Ma, I’ll pick up Les. Call me when you get an update.”

“Okay, bye, baby. Love you.”

“Love you.”

Davey hung up, and when he looked back up, the others were staring at him. Jack wrapped his arm around Davey’s shoulders. He’d overheard the whole call.

“We can go with you if you want. Do you wanna go home or take him back here?”

Davey takes in a deep breath. “Here. He’ll be pretty freaked out anyway, Ma’s never late to pick him up, and sitting at home waiting isn’t gonna help.”

“Okay. Do you want us with you?”

“Are you guys okay with that?”

“Of course!” they all agreed. 

“Ain’t gonna let you do this alone!” Crutchie said, tapping Davey’s foot with one of his crutches.

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Jack nodded, then said, “Racer, go tell Medda an’ the others what’s goin’ on.”

Race nodded and ran off. 

Trusting Race to meet them in the parking lot, Davey led the other to his car. He had a beat-up old eight-seat minivan, so everyone could sit comfortably. Jack sat in the passenger seat, Crutchie sat in the back, and Racer, Elmer, and Albert sat in the very back to make room for Les.

When they made it to the elementary school, Davey and Jack got out to get Les. Davey had to pull out his ID to get his brother, and got a lot of curious questions from the teacher, who he only told there was a family emergency.

“DAVEY!!” Les ran and hugged his brother.

“Hey, buddy!”

“Why are you picking me up? Where’s Ma? You’re late.”

“I’m sorry buddy, I would’ve been here earlier, but I had work. Did you finish your homework?”

“Yeah!” said Les, momentarily forgetting his first questions. “Well, except for the stupid word-search, but it’s not like it’s  _ real  _ homework.”

Davey looked disapprovingly at his brother, but Jack butted in before he could start to tell him off. “Word search? I’ve always hated those, but I’ve got a friend who’s really good at ’em.”

“Who are you?”

“They call me Jack Kelly, I’m a friend of Davey’s. We work together.”

Les nodded approvingly. “I hate word searches too. They’re so hard, and you can never get any better at them.”

“Hey, Les?” Davey said. “We’re gonna go hang out with Jack and my other friends at my school, okay?”

Les looked confused, but excited.

They walked back to the car, and Les climbed in the back. “This is Crutchie, Race, Albert, and Elmer.” Davey introduced. They all waved. 

Les eyed where Crutchie’s crutches were laying in the floor of the van. “How’d you hurt your leg?”

Crutchie smiled. “When I was little, I got really sick, and it hurt the nerves in my leg, so now I can’t walk on it anymore. I use the crutches to get around.”

“He can get really fast on ’em too,” added Albert.

Les nodded. “My friend Asher hurt his ankle, and he had to walk around with crutches for a really long time. He wasn’t allowed to play in gym class, and Sophie and I took turns helping him with his backpack. Your crutches look a lot cooler though, they look a lot better.”

Crutchie smiled. “Yep. I’ve had a lot of practice moving around. I’ve got a backpack to carry around my books, but sometimes my friends help me carry them.”

Les nodded sagely.

When they arrived back at the school, they went straight to the auditorium, where Les was introduced to Medda and the other kids. After pizza, Davey re-braided Small’s hair from that morning, and checked that Les’ homework was correct (he was happy to see only a few mistakes, mostly with neatness) while Crutchie helped Les with that nasty word search. Next, Jack, Les, Race, and Albert played HORSE, and then they played a few of Medda’s theatre games. Davey’s favorite was Talk Show, but Les got quite a kick out of Honey, I love you. The kids were doing well keeping the Jacobs distracted, but as the night began to rundown, Davey started thinking more about his father.

Medda had begun to teach Les the basics of sewing, he’d made two pincushions already. The others were spread around, doing homework or hanging out. Davey sat away from the group on a soft old couch backstage. He knew surgery took a long time, but shouldn’t he have an update by now?

The couch dipped, and Davey felt a warmth beside him. Jack put his arm around his shoulders, it was a comforting, familiar weight. “You alright?”

“She was crying on the phone.” Davey heard himself say. “She never cries like that, ya know? Not like that. Sometimes she’ll be panicked, or mad, but never like that. They never said anything about more surgeries. They said he was done, stable.”

Davey felt the words gush out of him like an open wound he couldn’t plug. “He was stable, he was stable. I just-he was stable and now she’s crying and it’s been almost four hours, and-” Davey gasps, choking back a sob. His Dad could be dying. What if he was already dead?

Jack pulls him into a strong hug. “I-I’m sorry, I-” Davey says, trying to stem the tears.

“Shhh, Mouth, it’s alright. You’re okay,” Jack tightened his grip and pulled Davey closer, stroking his hair. “Everything will be alright, no matter what, we’re all here for you.”

Davey sobbed, twisting his hands in Jack’s shirt and hiding in his chest.

“We got you, Davey, we got you,”

  
  
  


_ Do you love him? _

Jack hadn’t even known Davey that long. A few months at most. But Spot’s question rang in his ears as he held Davey. All Jack wanted to do was put that smile back on his face. All he wanted to do was hold him, tell him everything was going to be alright, and make it so. 

_ Do you love him? _

Maybe Jack did. Maybe it didn’t matter. Davey would never like him back. But that didn’t mean Jack wouldn’t give him the world. Like Spot said, he’s a keeper.

Eventually, Davey quietened, and his tears slowed to a stop. He sat up, cleaning off his face and taking a deep breath. 

“Sorry, I-”

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry about,”

Davey looked at Jack, the look in his eyes unreadable. “Well, thank you, then.”

Jack smiled softly. “You’re welcome.”

Davey took a deep breath and stood up. “It’s getting late, I should get Les home.”

Jack nodded. “I hate you guys going home alone.”

Davey looked away, lost in thought. “You could, you could stay with us. If you want. Sleep on the couch”

“Is that okay with you?”

Davey shifted nervously, fiddling with his fingers. “I’m fine with whatever,”

“I could help you get Les to bed, help you get him to school, and fed in the morning if your Ma decided to stay at the hospital tonight.”

“That sounds really nice, is Snyder?” 

“Doesn’t care where I go as long as I’m home by the weekend,”

“So you would be okay to-”

“I would love to.”

Davey took in a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll make sure to text Ma, let her know you’ll be over,”

Jack smiled. “I’ll wrangle up Les’s stuff.”

“Okay”

  
  


Les was half asleep listening to Miss Medda ramble on about sewing, complaining that he was far too tired to leave. Jack handed Les’s packed bag and jacket and reached down to pick up the sleepy boy. Les let out a surprised noise but was pleased to be carried.

Jack brought the boy to the car, and he fell asleep almost five minutes into the drive. At Davey’s directions, he carried him up into his room, removed his shoes, and tucked him in.

Davey set up the couch, and Jack slept better than he had in a long time.

When Davey wakes the next morning, Les is up, ready, and munching on chocolate-chip pancakes. His Ma’s in the kitchen, and she can’t stop thanking Jack for being so considerate. She tells him Dad is fine, that it was an unexpected emergency surgery, but he’s doing much better.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos! They really encourage writers to keep writing!


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